The 12th Fleet: Starbase Valhalla

Have you tried rearranging your HUD, but can't get it just the way you like it because the "green box" method is imprecise and sloppy? Do you wish you could move the things on your screen around just the way you see them? Well, try this for super precise HUD window placement:

In your chat box:

/GenJailUnlock 1

Your entire HUD is now unlocked and you can move all of your windows to exactly where you want them. Don't forget to /GenJailUnlock 0 to lock your HUD again when you are done, or you may be accidentally moving windows around at inopportune moments.

Interesting; so this allows you to "Unlock" HUD rearrangement without going into options?

If so, that's pretty nifty.

I have mine exactly how i want it, i think i was one of the first to use dual chat boxes in the fleet. Also if you press alt+f12 or shift+f12 (can't remember which) it'll allow you to adjust your HUD, the other turns it off.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Shift+F12

The problem with that method (the "green box" method) is that, upon exiting, your new HUD window positions don't always match exactly where you put the green boxes. In fact, they almost never do, so it is kind of a guessing game when you are trying to line up window edges. The "HUD Unlock" method allows you to place your windows so that they will be exactly where you move them, down to the pixel.

Addendum:

Once you have your HUD set up exactly like you want it, you can go into Options > HUD and click Save UI at the bottom, which, among other things, saves your window positions to a text file. If you have multiple toons, you can switch to another toon, go into Options > HUD and click Load UI and it will rearrange that toon's HUD to match the changes you saved previously.

The file is called ui_settings.txt and can be found in your "Game Install Directory"\Star Trek Online\Live folder. You can copy this file to a safe location as a backup and use it to reload your UI back to the way you like it if your settings ever get messed up or lost. It stores everything related to your HUD, including notification settings, chat settings, currently loaded key binds ... pretty much everything you can set in Options. It also has in it, under the eaStoredPositions headings, the names of the various HUD windows with which you can interact using the "gen" command line commands (enter /cmds gen for a full listing of them. They will show up in the tab of your chat where your yellow [System] notifications appear). You can assign these interactions to key binds as well.

For example, I have this key bind set in my space key binds text file:

Shift+Esc "GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustarget_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5 $$ GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustargetoftarget_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5 $$ GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustargetfocused_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5 $$ GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Shipstatus_Bufflist scale 1.5"

It temporarily (they reset when you change zones) sets all of those little buff/debuff icons that appear above my ship's shields display and under my teammates and target(s) status displays to 150% of their "normal" size. I have my overall HUD size set to 85% of default, so those icons are really hard to read. I can use that key bind to enlarge only those buff/debuff icons so I can see them more clearly while leaving everything else at my preferred 85%. This is not possible using the HUD Options window. You can also use those commands and HUD window IDs to only load portions of a normal window, say, the Roster tab of your DOff window, or a freely movable display box that shows all abilities at your disposal, including those of your DOffs (in the case of ground) in one large grouping.

I am going off topic, so I will stop now, but I plan to do a full write-up on the more useful HUD window command line commands in the near future. In fact, I am eventually going to cover a great many key bind tricks and tips such as using aliasing to allow one key bind to toggle things on and off. Ex. press the button once to turn on combat logging and press the same button again to turn it off, with notifications regarding the current state of the toggle added for good measure. Lots of good quality-of-life stuff on the way.

I should probably find a dedicated home on the forums for all of these posts while the blog/magazine is in limbo.

Suggestions?

That does sound good, i'm looking forward to the write up.

Could always put them in the guides, hints and tips forum.
http://forums.12th-fleet.com/viewforum.php?f=69

KickKat wrote:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Shift+F12

The problem with that method (the "green box" method) is that, upon exiting, your new HUD window positions don't always match exactly where you put the green boxes. In fact, they almost never do, so it is kind of a guessing game when you are trying to line up window edges. The "HUD Unlock" method allows you to place your windows so that they will be exactly where you move them, down to the pixel.

Addendum:

Once you have your HUD set up exactly like you want it, you can go into Options > HUD and click Save UI at the bottom, which, among other things, saves your window positions to a text file. If you have multiple toons, you can switch to another toon, go into Options > HUD and click Load UI and it will rearrange that toon's HUD to match the changes you saved previously.

The file is called ui_settings.txt and can be found in your "Game Install Directory"\Star Trek Online\Live folder. You can copy this file to a safe location as a backup and use it to reload your UI back to the way you like it if your settings ever get messed up or lost. It stores everything related to your HUD, including notification settings, chat settings, currently loaded key binds ... pretty much everything you can set in Options. It also has in it, under the eaStoredPositions headings, the names of the various HUD windows with which you can interact using the "gen" command line commands (enter /cmds gen for a full listing of them. They will show up in the tab of your chat where your yellow [System] notifications appear). You can assign these interactions to key binds as well.

For example, I have this key bind set in my space key binds text file:

Shift+Esc "GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustarget_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5 $$ GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustargetoftarget_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5 $$ GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustargetfocused_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5 $$ GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Shipstatus_Bufflist scale 1.5"

It temporarily (they reset when you change zones) sets all of those little buff/debuff icons that appear above my ship's shields display and under my teammates and target(s) status displays to 150% of their "normal" size. I have my overall HUD size set to 85% of default, so those icons are really hard to read. I can use that key bind to enlarge only those buff/debuff icons so I can see them more clearly while leaving everything else at my preferred 85%. This is not possible using the HUD Options window. You can also use those commands and HUD window IDs to only load portions of a normal window, say, the Roster tab of your DOff window, or a freely movable display box that shows all abilities at your disposal, including those of your DOffs (in the case of ground) in one large grouping.

I am going off topic, so I will stop now, but I plan to do a full write-up on the more useful HUD window command line commands in the near future. In fact, I am eventually going to cover a great many key bind tricks and tips such as using aliasing to allow one key bind to toggle things on and off. Ex. press the button once to turn on combat logging and press the same button again to turn it off, with notifications regarding the current state of the toggle added for good measure. Lots of good quality-of-life stuff on the way.

I should probably find a dedicated home on the forums for all of these posts while the blog/magazine is in limbo.

Suggestions?

Husker's right, the topic could even be stickied. This'll be interesting indeed.

That's good to know! Thanks KickKat!

First step to having a decent HUD:

Not having a 4:3 monitor.....

Johnny Macintosh wrote:First step to having a decent HUD:

Not having a 4:3 monitor.....

Well TNG, DS9 and VOY were all broadcast in 4:3, so it's canon.

But the viewscreens were 16:9, or were they 21:9??? They were pretty wide. Hell the Odyssey has one of those new curved viewscreens.